Temporary Blindness In Preparation for the Future

“And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.” (Ge 8:13-14 AV)

Sometimes, the ground has to be prepared for us before God allows us to see our future.  What caught my curiosity was the time Noah waited before he removed the roof from off the ark.  It hadn’t rained for quite some time.  They hadn’t seen the sun for almost a year.  They were hold up in that ark with the stench of the animals for almost eleven months before he rolled back the roof.  I wonder why?

My wife, bless her heart, is just like her father.  Which is some ways is challenging.  They both love to open window and doors.  The weather does not matter.  Who cares if it is raining outside or the temperature is a few degrees shy of the sun.  The drapes go back.  The windows fly up.  The front and back doors are opened.  I figure, if they want to live in the open air, God bless them.  But God invented houses for a reason!  As my mother used to say, “I’m not heating/cooling the outdoors!”  Skin cancer and bug bites are the result of too much outdoors!  But even I might want to fling open a roof or two if I had to suffer with the stench of a zoo!  Knowing that it wasn’t raining, nor would it rain for quite some time, I might be tempted to open the roof as soon as I knew the ark was out of danger.  If anything, to let the smell escape and to see the sun.

The careful reader will note the ground was dry, but the earth was not dry enough for Noah and his family until about eight weeks later.  The roof was opened on the first day of the first month.  On New Years day the roof was opened.  But again, it begs the question.  Why wait so long?  Perhaps there are many reasons which we would not know because the Bible doesn’t tell us why.  Perhaps there is one that comes to mind.  That which was destroyed by flood may float atop the deluge for some time.  No doubt, there would have been flesh and foliage alike floating until the water has so saturated the victim that it sank to the depths.  There would have been birds abundantly feeding on the carnage as well as beast from the depths.  Just because the water had stopped falling does not mean the lasting effects of God’s judgment could not be seen.  Perhaps the LORD protected Noah and his family from seeing the natural results of His judgment upon the earth.  What we do know is the LORD did not allow Noah to see or interact with creation until God had prepared it.  He did not allow Noah to see or live in his future until the hand of the LORD has determined it was ready for him.  The same can be said for us.  Allow God to prepare what we cannot see and don’t be in too big of a hurry to get there lest we see something that might well be discouraging even though it’s temporary.